March 24, 2026 UPDATE

The latest news from RRI

Newsroom, 24.03.2026, 20:00

Meeting – The Black Sea has particularities that must be recognized and integrated into European decisions and I believe that the future of European fisheries policy must be built on a real balance between sustainability, competitiveness and the needs of coastal communities. The statement was made on Tuesday by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin Barbu, during the meeting with the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, who is on an official visit to Romania. According to a press release from the relevant ministry, the meeting took place in the context of the Commissioner’s pledge to visit coastal communities and have direct dialogues with all the actors involved at the local level. In this context, Florin Barbu highlighted the need for an integrated and simplified approach, based on data and adapted to the specifics of each sea basin, which should allow for the sustainable and competitive development of the sector. In turn, the European Commissioner said that Romania was an important partner in the Black Sea region. ‘I appreciate its commitment to sustainable management of fisheries resources and to the development of aquaculture. (…) We will continue to work together to ensure a coherent European framework that supports both the economic future and the sustainability of the fisheries sector,’ Costas Kadis said.

Training exercise – Romania is organizing the largest annual multinational training exercise, “Sea Shield 2026”, in which over 2,500 soldiers from the country and from 12 other partner states participate. The goal is to strengthen cooperation and joint action procedures. The National Defense Minister, Radu Miruţă, said on Radio Romania that the exercise, entitled “Sea Shield”, sends the message that there is interoperability and capacity to act, willingness to learn and interest in having soldiers of the armies of NATO countries, work and fight shoulder to shoulder in any conditions.

Visit – The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Mircea Abrudean, is visiting Croatia on Tuesday and Wednesday, to participate in the Parliamentary Summit of the Three Seas Initiative (I3M) in Zagreb and have several bilateral meetings. According to an internal Senate Memorandum, the main theme of the Parliamentary Summit will be circumscribed by the strategic priorities of I3M in the current geopolitical context. Participants in this major event will address topics such as diversification of energy supply sources, cooperation in the field of defense, aspects related to interconnectivity and sustainable development of economies in the I3M area. According to the same source, I3M is a flexible and informal high-level political platform, which aims to develop infrastructure on the north-south axis in the transport, energy and digital sectors. For geo-economic reasons, the objective of I3M is to reduce the development gaps between the Central and East European countries and the rest of the continent. The platform was launched through the declaration adopted by the inaugural Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Kyiv on August 23, 2021.

Football – The Romanian national football squad is preparing for the match against Turkey, in the semi-finals of the play-off for the qualification to the 2026 World Cup. Of the footballers summoned by coach Mircea Lucescu, 11 are registered with clubs abroad and 15 with teams in the so-called Romanian Super League. The national team will meet Turkey on Thursday, in Istanbul. Depending on the results of the play-off semi-finals, on March 31, the National Team will play in Slovakia or Kosovo. Romania last participated in a world final tournament in 1998, in France.

Government – The extraordinary government meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to a date to be later announced, the Romanian government said. The Economic and Social Council (CES) has postponed the approval of the draft emergency ordinance on declaring a crisis situation on the crude oil and petroleum products market and on establishing measures to protect the economy and the population during the crisis situation, as well as for amending some laws in the energy field. According to the CES, the opinions on the draft law from Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu and the Ministry of Justice are missing. The emergency ordinance that was to be adopted by the executive was published on Monday on the website of the Energy Ministry. The document mainly provides for the application of a limited commercial surcharge and controlled exports. At the same time, the Government proposes that, during the crisis situation, the amount of biofuel in gasoline be reduced in order to lower the final price. The intention of the Romanian authorities to stabilize the market comes in a tense international context. The increase in fuel prices is the main effect of the conflict in the Middle East on the business environment in Romania, according to over 60% of the respondents to a survey conducted last week by IMM Romania (SMEs Employers’ confederation in Romania).

Protests – Miners from the Oltenia Energy Complex (south-west) protested on Tuesday in front of the Government headquarters in Bucharest, dissatisfied with the loss of jobs and the fact that the new collective labor agreement has not yet been signed. They are demanding the intervention of the authorities and the renegotiation of the deadlines assumed by Romania through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for the closure of mining. We recall that Romania has assumed the gradual elimination of coal, with mining set to disappear, for the most part, by 2030. (LS)